Brothers get life for killing a cop

Brad and Troy Phillips, who faced charges in Wakulla, are sentenced for the 2021 murder of a Decatur County, Ga. deputy

Brad Phillips, left, and Troy Phillips. The mugshots are from their Wakulla arrest a month before they murdered a deputy sheriff in Georgia.

By WILLIAM SNOWDEN Editor

Two brothers were sentenced to life in prison last month for the murder of a Decatur County, Ga., deputy sheriff – Capt. Justin Bedwell.
Brothers Brad and Troy Phillips, who are well-known to area law enforcement, were found guilty of the murders in a state court in Bainbridge, Ga., last month.
Brad Phillips, 43, was sentenced to life in prison plus 55 years, and Troy Phillips, 42, was sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years. Both were sentenced for the February 2021 murder of Capt. Bedwell.
According to testimony at the trial, Bedwell was shot and killed while trying to make a traffic stop on the truck the two brothers were riding in.
Brad Phillips testified at his brother’s sentencing on Feb. 15 that he was high on meth and steroids and didn’t want to go back to jail when deputies in Seminole County, Ga. tried to pull over the truck for speeding. He told his brother Troy to keep driving.
He started shooting at officers as Troy drove the truck at speeds up to 90 mph. An attempted Precision Immobilization Technique (PIT) was attempted by a deputy to stop the truck but the manuever caused the deputy’s vehicle to lose a wheel. The brothers then went to a home in Decatur County to shoot a  person there and shot up the home and forced their way inside.
Capt. Bedwell was responding to a call at the house when the brothers shot and killed him. They then took his vest off of him, apparently in an effort to get more ammunition.
The prosecution showed videos made by Troy Phillips a couple of days before the shooting rampage in which he threatened to kill police, claiming they had been following and antagonizing him for years.
A month before the murder of the deputy in Georgia, the brothers picked up charges in Wakulla County for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
A Wakulla deputy was investigating a call for a suspicious vehicle parked on Mashes Sands Road for several hours. The deputy discovered Troy and Brad Phillips in a truck with an 18-year-old Panacea girl.
Troy Phillips’ driver license was cancelled because of five convictions for driving with a suspended license and four DUIs. He was taken into custody for driving while license suspended or revoked. A search of the vehicle turned up ammunition and a lever-action rifle.
Both brothers, who are convicted felons, were charged with possession of firearm by a convicted felon. The girl was not taken into custody.
In felony court on March 8 before Wakulla Circuit Judge Layne Smith,Chief Prosecutor Jon Fuchs dropped the Wakulla charges against Troy Phillips, citing the life sentence he received in Georgia.